March Memories

Each month we do a photo tour of scenery in our area. This month the photos were taken in the Carberry area, about 20 minutes away, where Brian grew up, and where I attended school. 

The first photos are of the Lyon's Mansion, just south of Carberry. You can watch a video tour of this deserted house HERE, and read a little of the history of the home HERE.

There's also a FB page called Abandoned Manitoba, if you're interested in seeing more old, abandoned houses and buildings. There aren't nearly as many of these as there were when I was growing up. One of our favorite past times was exploring old houses that people had just left behind, often furniture and all. These days, we'd be in trouble for trespassing, I'm sure!

Not only do the photos capture some interesting old buildings, but they show just how much snow still remains at the end of March!

Of course he had to take a picture of this perfect climbing tree for me!

I'm sure the geese are wondering where spring is!

He tried to get a photo of this eagle, but he had the wrong lens on the camera for a good close up.

And no scenic tour would be complete without a fence....

....and railway tracks!

Hope you enjoyed our March tour. Hopefully by next month we'll have a little less brown and a little more green!

Scripture Picture Sunday # 33, Proverbs 25:11

Saturday Snapshot, Hockey Season Is Over

Faux Painting Ceramic Tile Walls

 I'm always looking for easy and inexpensive ways to decorate our home. I love the look of tile in a bathroom, but it can be pricey. Keeping those grout lines clean can be a chore too....Boys and bathrooms...need I say more?!

 A few years ago, when we were finishing our basement, the money for tiles just wasn't available, so I came up with another solution. We had already painted our basement floor and liked the way it turned out, so why not the walls?

 Today, I'm going to show you how we did our bathroom walls with the same faux painting technique we used on our floor.

 The first step is to paint a base coat in whatever colour you choose for the grout lines. We used an ivory latex. Then measure and tape off the squares for the tiles, using 6mm (1/4 inch) paint tape. We did 12 inch squares, and lined them up, rather than staggering them as we did on the floor.

You'll need a paint brush and a sponge. Sea sponges work best, but I used a regular soft sponge and tore some pieces from it to create more of a pattern.

Pick three paint colours. We chose: light blue, tan, and ivory.

And start painting!

Use the paint brush to dab the paint on the wall, one square at a time.

Then use the sponge to blend the colours, dabbing and turning it

  in different directions as you go around the square.

Be sure to get right out to the edges, covering the tape.

A couple of hours later, remove the tape. It should come off easily.

Almost done.

We painted a strip of wood trim the same way, 

and added it along the top edge.

We put a clear coat of varathane on top of the paint to

 make it look even more like real ceramic tile. 

Clean up is easy, and no grout to worry about!

Perfect solution for the boys bathroom!

I really like the way the walls turned out, and three years later, they are still in great shape! For more detail on how to apply the paint, you can visit my other post on faux painting: Faux Painting a Concrete Floor.

Scripture Picture Sunday # 32, Isaiah 26:3

Saturday Snapshot, Daffodils

They're in the house but, still a sign of spring!

Easy and Inexpensive Natural Cleaners

 I want to preface this post by saying, if you are one of those people who actually do make all of your own cleaning products...I applaud you. Let me just admit something right now...I'm kinda lazy when it comes to cleaning. If there's an easier less stressful way to do it, I'm going to try it!

Scripture Picture Sunday # 31, Proverbs 4:23

Saturday Snapshot, After the Storm

The blizzard is over, but the snowbanks left behind are so huge that our dogs managed to jump the fence in one part of the yard!

Manitoba Blizzard of 2017

While so many of my blogging friends are posting pictures of plants coming up in their gardens, and making plans for the new garden season, I'm sitting here looking out my window at snow and ice! 

I have no idea how much snow fell, because the wind blew it all into huge snowbanks, leaving other parts of the yard bare. This storm lasted over 24 hours! 

This was my view yesterday.

There's a neighbour over there somewhere!

Near one community, vehicles were stranded on the Trans Canada for up to 18 hours, after a bad accident blocked the way. Firemen and local residents eventually went out on snow mobiles to rescue them, and bring fuel. The town's school opened up their gym to about 70 people, providing food and other necessities until the storm passed. I'm sure as days go by we'll hear more stories like this.

Morning number 2....Brian tried to go to work this morning, but decided not to try to plow through the snow drifts. Later in the morning he took a walk down the road after someone else went through with a truck...they were stuck a few times, but finally made it through. It doesn't look too bad, but that snow is rock hard, and it's sheer ice underneath.....I think we'll wait for the snow plow!

We'll have some shoveling to do to get out the front door!

The view from the road to our house. The wind just blew the snow right across our driveway, so it's relatively clear, with just a few small drifts. But right in front of our garage is a different story!

Not much snow, but lots of ice!

The wind blew much of the snow away in some spots, leaving sparkling ice covered ripples.

I'm glad the boys didn't make a skating rink in the back yard this year,

 because that area is now buried under 4-5 feet of snow!

UH OH! the dogs have discovered they can almost jump the fence in some places! And to think, I was looking forward to some snow to keep the dogs from tracking mud in the house! Should be a while before we have to worry about that again.

I hope everyone made it through the storm ok...and for my southern friends...enjoy your sprouting gardens and green grass...while we dig out from our second big blizzard of the winter!

Spring is just around the corner, spring is just around the corner, spring is just around the corner....